Client: Primark International Headquarters

Architect: Morey Smith

Location: Dublin 1

Primark’s newly redeveloped headquarters on Parnell Street, Dublin, combines a listed heritage building with an office building spanning a central atrium. As part of the project, Allied Workspace was successful in securing the contract to supply and install both architectural glazing for the central atrium and glazed screens for the new offices.

The new layout is designed to influence greater mobility and encourage social interaction, while the expansive open plan office space features over 40 meeting rooms, a café and eating facilities as well as a gymnasium for employees.

Products

FIRE DOORS

In a move that marks a major transition for the retail brand, Primark has transformed two existing buildings into a modern and innovative working environment housing its 600+ strong workforce in the heart of Dublin’s shopping district.

The office is named Arthur Ryan House after Primark’s founder. The project includes a communal area, a reception with a separate business lounge, a large café, a ranging room, creative studios, various social spaces, a photographic studio, workplace for 600+ employees, auditorium and an exercise studio with showers and changing facilities.

The properties, which span 125,000ft2, comprise a 20th century listed building and a modern property constructed in 2002. A 13m long bridge now links the two together and overlooks a communal atrium which sits at the core of the new office space.

In addition to securing the contract to supply Atrium Glazing, Office Partitions and Mobile Walls, Allied installed Fire Doors at the required locations in the refurbished premises.

ATRIUM GLAZING

In addition to installing a brand new office partitioning system, Allied was successful in securing the contract to supply and install Atrium Glazing for Primark’s new International Headquarters located at 22-24 Parnell Street, Dublin. The buildings were transformed into 11,613sq m (125,000sq ft) of offices to house the company’s 600 headquarters staff. These have now been integrated by a standout central atrium space which aims to encourage informal meetings and create a buzzy centre for employees and visitors complete with a deli-style cafe.

A number of bridges create a sense of movement with employees able to move freely between work areas and floors. The open-plan office space features more than 40 meeting rooms, eating facilities and a gym for employees.

“An open-plan layout, wide vistas, the use of glass and fully exposed floors also help promote face-to-face contact which research has shown plays a major role in the health, well-being and productivity of workers,” according to Primark.

OFFICE PARTITIONS

Chapel House – a 129,600 sq foot building located on Dublin’s Parnell Street – is home to Primark’s International Headquarters. Located immediately adjacent to the company’s Mary Street store, the listed building was acquired by the company in 2011, but required substantial renovation works which began in 2014.

The completed project has transformed Chapel House into a modern global operations centre for Primark, with room for over 500 employees and provides a hub for the company’s vast external supplier network. The renovated building offers more natural light and an open office concept which facilitates a flexible office organization and stimulates direct communication. The new office also enhances teamwork by offering various working environments for individual work and additional meeting areas.

In addition to a new glazed Central Atrium completed by Allied Workspace, the office environment incorporates Komfort Polar Frameless Glazed Partitions and Doors, all of which were installed within an extremely tight schedule that required the project be undertaken out-of-hours so as not to impact on Primark’s daily operations. Acoustics were of top priority in the specifications of all glass partitions. A variety of systems were proposed to meet with the different requirements. An acoustic range of 36dB to 48dB was achieved using Single Glazed partitions and Double Glazed partitions.

MOBILE WALLS

In a move that marks a major transition for the retail brand, Primark has transformed two existing buildings into a modern and innovative working environment housing its 600+ strong workforce in the heart of Dublin’s shopping district. The office is named Arthur Ryan House after Primark’s founder. The project includes a communal area, a reception with a separate business lounge, a large café, a ranging room, creative studios, various social spaces, a photographic studio, workplace for 600+ employees, auditorium and an exercise studio with showers and changing facilities.

The properties, which span 125,000ft2, comprise a 20th century listed building and a modern property constructed in 2002. A 13m long bridge now links the two together and overlooks a communal atrium which sits at the core of the new office space.

In addition to securing the contract to supply Atrium Glazing, Office Partitions and Fire Doors, Allied installed Mobile Walls at a number of locations in the refurbished premises.